


Like a Cat For a Summoning Contract

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Curtain Fic, F/F, Flirting, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-11
Updated: 2012-02-11
Packaged: 2017-10-30 22:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/336882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ino's had a bad day; Sakura's there to help. Sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like a Cat For a Summoning Contract

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hokuto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hokuto/gifts).



> I was pretty intrigued by your prompt of Sasuke and his stupid face not breaking up Sakura and Ino! I went with slice of life fluff, mostly because if I did anything more ambitious with the AU we'd be here for a novel and it would never, every be finished for the deadline. *g*
> 
> You can assume whatever you like for why he's not there; this story takes place in an alternate universe where Team Seven consists of Sakura, Ino, and Naruto. This is roughly analagous (or slightly later than) to the Shippuden timeline.

Ino comes back in late from training, as usual; it’s not that she trains _longer_ than you do, it’s just that Kakashi keeps the strangest hours sometimes and his primary student has to keep them with him. Tsunade likes to keep training hours from the middle of the morning to the middle of the evening, because evidently not even someone as perpetually hungover as their Hokage sleeps in so late as Kakashi does. (You suspect some sort of chemical intervention driving him on early-morning missions, not that your team has taken very many missions together since Naruto had gone away and left your team short a member.)

“…what were you _doing_?” is all you can think to ask when you get a good look at your girlfriend, because Ino looks like she’s been swimming in mud. Her hair is sticking up in all directions, and there’s no way her clothes aren’t ruined. “I thought you were still working on learning new techniques.”

That’s why Ino trains with Kakashi, really— they both rely on copying others’ techniques, in the end, even if Ino does so while controlling the body of the shinobi in question. Since nobody in the Yamanaka clan is training new students right now, he’s the best fit for Ino’s training right now. Even if she does like to complain that they never do anything useful— you know that she’s making a big deal out of nothing for the sake of appearances when she gripes about her teacher (your teacher, really, even if Ino’s the only one who’s stayed).

“We are,” Ino says, and there’s that miserable little hitch under the anger in her voice that tells you she’s more exhausted than annoyed. “We were shadowing Kiba and Akamaru.”

Oh. That… actually explains a lot.

“Well, stop dripping mud all over the floor,” You say, careful to keep a placid tone; if you sound like you’re nagging now, it’s just going to make things worse. You set your book aside and stand up, beckoning for her to follow you. “Come on, I’ll help you get cleaned up.”

Ino doesn’t volunteer any more information as she follows you to the bathroom, not even in the form of complaining about her day. That _is_ worrying, because a Yamanaka Ino who isn’t making her displeasure with things known is _actually upset_. She sheds pieces of her ruined outfit in silence, vest and mesh and belt already littering the hallway floor (and getting mud everywhere, of course) by the time you both make it to your destination.

“You don’t have to,” Ino finally says when you turn on the water. There’s finally a trace of good humor in her voice, as if she’s realized how hilarious the entire situation sort of is now that she’s put it behind her. “I mean, I’m pretty gross right now.”

You laugh a little bit at that; As if you haven’t been through worse on missions, that there hasn’t been far worse than river mud covering both of you (all four of you, even) from head to toe on so many occasions there’s no point in naming them all. You unzips your own shirt and shimmy out of the rest of your clothes as Ino gets into the shower; your day has been less excitement and more studying medical texts, but _needing_ it less doesn’t stop you from following her in.

“I don’t even know _how_ I got this in my hair,” Ino laments, and you take a step back and watch as she leans forward and lets the water sluice an almost literal river of mud from her long hair. You don’t understand how Ino can keep her hair so long when she’s in training and on active duty; you haven’t looked back since you first started cutting your hair well above your shoulders (and that feels like a lifetime ago, back when you were all still a team). When the water finally runs clear of both dirt and soap, Ino flips her hair back— and splashing you right in the face in the process, which may or may not be intentional— and turns around to do the rest of the job.

You are well aware of the fact you haven’t been _helping_ as promised, just making this into a performance by the virtue of being an audience. You don’t make any move to remedy the situation, though, just smile as you wipe the water out of your eyes.

“Some help you are.” Ino reaches forward and pulls you under the spray with her; it seems less calculated to accomplish helping and more to spread the misery (or more accurately, the dirt) around, Her arms are slippery with soap, and soon enough the two of you are both relatively clean and more than relatively slippery.

“I am _extremely_ helpful,” you tell her in mock affront.

“About as helpful as having a cat for a summoning contract,” Ino disagrees with you, and punctuates that by pressing you up against the wall. And that kind of statement just can’t stand, so you get your argument in by biting under her ear. It works; she shrieks a little bit and pushes you back a little. “Sakura! I have to _pull my hair back_ in the field, everyone’s going to _see_ that.”

Oh, you don’t make a counter-argument; you make a _collated, indexed mission report with firsthand evidence refuting her claim_ with that bite. But she’s ready for you, hand on the back of your neck pulling your mouth up to meet hers and her breasts soap-slippery against yours. She’s definitely winning this one, and you’re just fine with that; it’s hard not to be when letting her have the last word means both of your mouths are occupied with much more worthwhile things, like kissing your way down to bite that same spot under Ino’s ear that she really likes but is going to pull you away from in about three seconds out of fear that it’s going to leave a _mark_. When she inevitably does just that, you sigh.

“We’re going to run out of hot water soon,” you tell her, because you have to be the practical one most of the time. And anyway, you’re kind of annoyed at her for pulling away like that. She rolls her eyes and reaches over to turn off the water.

“Where’s your sense of romance?” She asks, and instead of reaching for you again she steps over the side and grabs a towel. “You always have to kill the moment.”

“Not as much as cold water would have.” It’s true and you both know it, and you reach over for another towel. “We could always go take a bath, if that’s what you want to do tonight.”

That suggestion makes Ino pause and stare at you like you’ve just grown a second head; the idea of going to the bathhouse at night and risking getting _caught_ isn’t something you would normally suggest. It’s actually a very _Ino_ suggestion to make; for a girl who doesn’t want hickeys, she certainly doesn’t have an issue with public indecency.

“Did I take over your body and not realize?” She asks, and she’s got the most genuine smile on she’s had since she stepped through the door tonight. “Come on, let’s go.”

You’re probably going to scandalize one-third of Konoha before this is over, because even if you don’t get caught in the act someone (several someones) is going to see you entering and leaving together and make absolutely correct assumptions about what you’re doing there. And that’s just fine with you.


End file.
